The Theory Behind the Technology

In the overclocking community, we know that heat is bad. Excess heat, usually caused by upping the clock speed or increasing the voltage to get a "cleaner" signal to the processor, causes all sorts of problems in microelectronics. Additionally, when processors are made more powerful by adding more transistors to them, they will intrinsically generate more heat.

How much more heat?

In 1994, the watts of heat per high-performance CPU averaged around somewhere around 12-15 W. In 1998, as we moved to PIIs with millions of transistors per CPU, the watts of heat per high-performance CPU got to around 70W. Keep in mind that the size of the CPU has not changed drastically. So, a much more powerful cooling solution must be used to cool roughly the same surface area.

It has been long known in the overclocking community that running a colder system will let you overclock faster. The problem is, the cooling solution that is typically used is pretty much a fan-only setup, with 3, 4, or more fans on the CPU and around the system. The problem with this is that beyond a certain point, adding more fans will not give anymore reduction in heat. Your CPU can only be as cool as the ambient temperature in the case, right? So now how do you drastically lower CPU temperature?

Phase Change Refrigeration

This is where Kryotech steps in. They use an entirely different method of cooling, called "phase change refrigeration". This process isn't some new technology, as it's the same theory behind the cooling mechanism in your refrigerator. The process is "closed loop", so it is continuous. In theory, it's simple: there are basically only 2 steps in phase change refrigeration:

1. Liquefied coolant is pumped to an evaporator (the CPU), where it is vaporized. The heat latent in this process is absorbed.

2. The vapor is moved by a compressor to a condenser. Here, the vapor is air-cooled back into a liquid form, and pumped back into the evaporator.

In the case of our Kryotech unit, here is a graphical illustration of where this process takes place: